Sam Altman reveals "more granular control" for IP owners in new Sora 2 update
Previously, Altman's OpenAI video generation model was looking at an opt-out policy, which was just not how copyright law works.
Ever since we saw the first AI video generators knocking about, questions of copyrighted content quickly arose as throwing Pikachu or Darth Vader into any prompt you liked seemed a quick way for the model owners to get sued. Now, we have advanced models like Sora 2, and again people are seeing characters OpenAI doesn't own represented in whatever way a prompt decrees.
Last week, OpenAI chief Sam Altman was going for an opt-out model with Sora 2, meaning rightsholders would have to choose to ensure their content isn't used for video generation. As The Hollywood Reporter pointed out, that's not how copyright law works.
It's not even how Sora 2 worked. Western IP was protected from the video generation model, but Japanese IP like Pokémon, Dragon Ball, and more was fair game. That is until now, where in a new blog post Altman said that the policy is changing to be opt-in with Sora 2.
"We are hearing from a lot of rightsholders who are very excited for this new kind of 'interactive fan fiction' and think this new kind of engagement will accrue a lot of value to them, but want the ability to specify how their characters can be used (including not at all)," Altman wrote.
The changes seem to be made in an effort to draw revenue from Sora 2, which is using a lot of power for video generation. There's hope to share revenue with rightsholders who opt-in, which in Altman's eyes is a win win for everyone.
